Chapter 116 Lifelong Formulas
ANNA'S POV
My hands were shaking as I riffled through the bag again, searching my documents one by one, document by document. No, no, no.
This couldn't be happening. I tried thinking back immediately. Did I drop it on the plane somehow? Did I somehow forget to pack it? I knew that I hadn't forgotten. That was the only reason why I was even protecting the bag like it was my egg in the first place. I was sure that I brought the book with me.
I was about to break down and start crying, when I suddenly remembered. I saw Ryan with the bag this morning. Did he somehow take the book from the bag without me knowing? After all, he was awake much earlier than I woke up.
I headed downstairs with my hands balled into fists. I wasn't going to take it easy with him if he thought he could just reach into my bag and take anything that he wanted.
As soon as I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw the book in his hand. The way I ran over to him and snatched it with everything in me was out of this world. He had a frown plastered on his forehead as he watched me.
“It fell out of your bag this morning. I forgot to give it to you.”
I froze in my movements. I didn't know what I was supposed to believe anymore. My head was already hurting so much.
“Where did you find it?” I asked in a whisper.
“It was there, on the chair,” he said, and I could sense the sincerity in his voice. The chair was the same color as the book cover anyway.
I ran my hands through my hair. “I'm so sorry, I was doubting you somewhere in my head.”
He shrugged. “I understand. Besides, the book seems a little too important to you.”
“It's lifelong formulas of my grandmom. It could rid the world of any chronic diseases. My dad trusted me with this. I didn't want to misplace it, or do something that would make him lose any kind of trust in me.”
My parents might have acted like they weren't really affected by what happened between them and Isabel, but I could see right through them. They were broken. Not just hurt. And I couldn't be the next person to break them. They would never recover from that one.
The media would never leave them alone. And I wouldn't be able to live with myself. All the pressure will be put on Daniel. I couldn't do that to him. He was already handling my business in my absence, and that was enough for me.
Ryan nodded at me, barely interested in the book. I didn't know what I was thinking to have any kind of doubt in him. He was just living his life. There was nothing that he would do to hurt me.
Or so I hoped.
I headed upstairs, making sure to put the book in my bag this time. I didn't have the motivation to read anymore. I turned on my laptop, going through my emails.
Daniel had sent me reports for the month, and I couldn't help but kiss my screen. I was already thinking of the amount of work it was going to take for me to do that.
I quickly picked up my phone, calling him. He answered on the second ring.
“Hey, sis,” he answered, his voice thick with sleep.
“Oh, I'll just call you later,” I whispered.
“No, no,” he said a little too quickly. I could hear him sit up. “What's up?”
“I just wanted to thank you for the documents that you sent. The report and all. I can't thank you enough.”
“I had some free time on my hands. So I thought, why not? I could do this while my sister has the time of her life. I could at least do this for you.”
It wasn't exactly the time of my life when I was ruining it with my insecurities. “Thank you,” I muttered. “Has Rita been replaced yet?”
Rita was the janitor who got pregnant. Her husband immediately said he wanted her to be a stay-at-home mom, and we didn't have the time or choice to even argue with him. He wanted his wife to stay at home? Then so be it.
She didn't promise that she was going to return. And the clinic had to be kept clean.
“Yes, actually,” he said. “There's this girl that I just hired yesterday. She was a spoiled little brat.”
I cocked an eyebrow immediately. For Daniel to call her a little brat, meant that it was more than something that could be handled.
“Are you sure she isn't going to give us any kind of issues?” I asked, and he clicked her tongue.
“I don't think so. She looked slightly desperate, and she looked like she needed the job as well. I managed to look into her records as well. Turns out that she was cured of hepatitis C using our drug. So let's just say she's paying the favor back.”
I didn't want to think of it as her paying the favor back. But I was glad that we had a new janitor already. I wasn't sure I could ask for more.
“How are mom and dad?” I asked, holding my breath. I didn't know what I was supposed to expect when it came to them.
“They're surviving. Still going to work, and most of the staff are already asking if mom and dad are going to replace them or something. They're more than stressed about losing their jobs.”
I ran my hands through my hair. “I should come back home,” I said quickly. There's nothing I can do from here.”
“Stay there and enjoy your staycation. I'll handle mom and dad. It's not like they're going to fall sick before you return.” He paused. “And how's Ryan?”
I could feel the small blush creep up my cheeks. I couldn't help but thank the heavens that we weren't on a video call. If we were, I would never hear the end of it. “He's fine. Perfectly fine.”
“Seems like something went down,” he said in a teasing tone.
I grinned as I hung up, pressing the phone to my lap.